Metal-wool-making machine



R. l. SCHONITZER METAL woon MAKING MACHINE Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,807

Enea Feb. 1a. 1922 11 sheetsrsheet 1 No 3g M l @m0-ff' 1%@ Vw B1 9.

el $1* bw. x\ O 'I q me/WCM Aug. 4, 1925.

R. L SCYHONITZER METAL wool.. MAKING MACHINE 'Filed Feb. -18, 1922 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 4, 1.925. 1,548,807

R. l. SCHONITZER METAL wool. MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18. 1922 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 9 N 'IHIIIIIH 11i 74 vlllllllll aww/vwo@ I fill ,Schon/izan Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,807

R. scHoNlTzER METAL WOOL MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1922 11 Sheets-Sheet 4 Aug. 4, 1925. L548 R. n. SQHQNWZER METAL WOOL MAKING MACHINE -umumw0-bn4 MAKING MACHINE rma Feb, 1s 1922 11 Sheets-Sheet 7 ug; 4, 1925. i,548,80'

R. n. scHoNlTzER METAAL WOOL MAKING MACHINE Filed webi 18. 1922 11 sheets-Sheet e Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,807

R. 1. scHoNlTzER METAL WOOL MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1922 11 Sheets-Sheet 9 JF/lg.10.

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Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,807

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METAL WOOL MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1a, 1922 11 sheets-sheet 1o I ma.l mJm..

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R. l. SCHONTZER METAL wool. MAKING MACHINE Find 'Fem 18, 1922 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 'fl/lll//lllll/I/n,

view of UNITED RUDOLPH I. scnomrznn. Aor SPRINGFIELD, omo, assrenon To 'mal rnonuc'rs comorron, A CORPORATION or omo.

orifice.

s'rnnr. woor.

v METAL-wooL-MAKING MACHINE;

` Application ledl February 18, 1922. Serial No. 587,467.

To all whom t myicoacem:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH I. SoHoN`1T- zER,-residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Metal-Wool. of which the following is Making Machines, a specification.

This invention relates to metal wool making machines of the type-which operates on a wire as a work piece, and the invention consists in improvements therein, and in ofthe claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Figure 1 is a ,front elevation of a metal Wool' making machine embodying the features of the present invention.

.Figure 2 is a top plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the left hand end of the ma ine.`

Figure 2a is a similar view of the right hand end of. the machine. Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 1 with parts broken away to show certain interior constructions. v l

Figure 4 is a top plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the means for laterally shitting the storage drum at one end of the machine, parts being broken away to show interior constructions.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, parts being broken away to show the vclutch shiftingdevice.l

Figure 6 is an enlarged detailsectional view ofthe gear arrangement for actuatincv the screw employed to laterally shift the storage drum.

Figure 7 is a detail fragmentary sectionalV elevation'of the gear Yshifting mechanism.

Figure 8 is an .enlarged detail sectional Y l a portion of the gear shifting meel anism.

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view on the line 9 9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is an enlarged detail plan view of one of the cutter heads.

Figure 11 is a front elevationjof Figure 10 with parts broken away to show interior constructions. Y Figure 12 is an end view of Figure 10. Figure 13 is'. a diagrammatic plan view showing-the disposition of the wire as it travels over the work-table from one feed reel to the other.

Figures 14, 15 and 16 arediagrammatic views showing. the relation of oneof the cutters to the three strands of wire which pass beneath 4the cutter.

` Fi'gure 17 is a diagrammatic viewillus- IFigure 18 is an enlarged front elevation showing one of the presser and guide wheels or rollers, parts being broken away to show the means for verticall adjusting the roller.

Figure 19is a top p an view thereof.

' Figure 20.is a side elevation of Figure 18...

The present machine includes a bed-pl-ate orwork-table 1 disposed ina substantially horizontal position Vand Vsupported by suitable leg standards 2 which may -be connected and braced by' bars 3 so yas to produce 'a rigid structure. i Rising from the top ofthe table and extending longitudinally thereof is a rib or back -plate 4 which is designed tosupportfone or'more cutting devices in co'- operative relation with the wire from which shavings-are to be cut, all of which will be hereinafter explained. Du licate wire stor-` age drums A and B are ispose'd opposite the respective .ends-of the table, andare mounted on the floor in spaced bearing brackets -5 and 6,v through the medium of a shaft 7 which extends in opposite directions through the hub 8 of the drum. The drum. is rotatable with the shaft through the medium of a key. 9, at the same time the-drum is capable of sliding longitudinally upon the'shaft for the purpose'as will be hereinmounted in a bracket 10 extendingdiagotable.

trating the action of one of the cutters to lprevent abnormal digging into the wire.

'lov

Vnally upward from the adjacent end of the The wire vfrom which the shavings arefto i be cut is designated generally by the reference character 11 onV the drum Av andlis wound thereon between thellanges of the ing the machine for cutting 'shavings from `drum in any suitable manner. In preparx theg'e, the free end portion ofthe wire is led from the drum A beneath thev reel C and towards the tablel and thence completely around the reel' Cjfas indicated at a in Figures 1 and 13 of thedrawings, and around what would be the rear portion of the reel when looking. at @the frontof the machine shown in Figure 1x'. From the under side of the reel C, the wire portion designated b is led across the topof the table and beneath the reel D around the far side thereof and backl across the top thereof to' the top 'of the reel C and thence around the bottom -of the reel and'across the to of the table, as at c Figure 13, in parallelism withv th strand b; thence beneath the bottom of the'reel D upwardly around the same back to the top of the reel C; thence down beneath the reel C and across the top of the table, as at d in Figure'13,in parallelism' with thestrands b and e;- thence around the bottom of the,

-reel D and entirely around the same to the bottom thereof and thence, as at e in Figures 1 and 13, across the top of the drum B;'

thence downwardlyl and around the right hand side thereof and secured thereto in any suitable manner. f p From the foregoing description, it will be understood that that portion Qf the vWit/ire which leads directly between Ithe drum A and the reel C on the one. hand, and the table 1 is shown in lan in Figure 13. For.

the support and guidance of the strands. as they pass across the table, I preferably prolvide a guideway in the form of ametal bar 12 let into the top surface of the table 1 and provided with p arallel grooves' or'channels to receive the respective" wire strands. By

reference to Figure 1 of the drawings it will be seen that the bottoms of the reels C and D are disposed in substantially the same plane as the top of the l table in order that the strand-s b, c and d may extend in straight is deemed s uicient.

horizontal lines between' the reels and the table, thereby to insure a feeding pull upon such strands directly in the direction of their lengths7 and insuring the most satisfactory feed of the wire 'strands across the top of the table.

inasmuchl as the constructionmounting and manner of operating the storage dru'ms A and B are identical, a description of one ofthe drums and its operating mechanisms Referring now more 11res3, 4 and 5, it will be seen that the drum particularly to Figshaft 7 extends a considerable ldistance at the rear of the machine and into a gear cas- 'ing 13 containin suitable. gearing for drivmg the shaft at iferent rates of speed, said gearin being in turn driven from a suitable driving wheel 14:, such as va pulley wheel in'a manner aswill be hereinafter explained. As bestindicated in Figure 2, itl will be seen that the shaftv 15 of the drivin wheel 14 is provided with a gear 16 wit in' the gear casing* 13 and in mesh with .the relatively large gear 17 `keyed or suitably fixed to a hollow rotatable shaft 18, best shown in Figure 7 of the drawings, which sleeve or shaft isv mounted in4 terminal bearings 19 and 2O provided'on theends of the gear casing 13. Loosely mounted upon the shaft 18 so as to rotate thereon are provided the stepped series of gears designated 21, 22, 23 and 24 respectively progressing in diameter in the order enumerated. These loosely mounted gears are in mesh with the correspondin gears 21a, 22223, and 24B which are keye or otherwise fixed upon the drum shaft 7. By'selectively locking any one ofthe driving gears 21, 221 23 and 24 to the driving shaft 18, the drum shaft and ,consequently ythe drumi may be rotated at different rates of spee While lany form of gear shift may be em# ployed Afor selectively locking the driving gears to. the driving shaft, a satisfactory arrangement has been shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings. 4Within the hollow shaft 18 there is mounted an endwise movable shift-bar 25 which is ycylindrical in shape so as to have a working lit within the hollow shaft. This shift-bar is provided with Aadiametrically disposed socket or recess 26 intersecting the exterior of the bar and of alength substantially e ual to the length of the'hub of any one o the gears 21 to 241 inclusive, each of which hubs being ofthe same length., Within the socket there is a radially movable key 27 which is'under the influence of, one or more springs 28, l

bearing against the back of the socket or recess 26 and against lthe key 27 with a tendency to normally force the latter' ra'- dially outward.` Each hub of the gears 21 to 24 inclusive is provided with a seat or recess 29 of a Vsize to receive the outer projecting end of the key 27 so as to lock the gear to the shaft 18 for simultaneous rotation. It will, of course, be understood that the shaft 18 is provided'with a longitudinal keyway 30 to accommodate the key 27, and said keyway extends through the combined vlengths of the hubs' of the gears in order that the key 27 may 4cooperate with any one of the gears .to lock the same upon the shaft merely by. shifting the shift-bar 25 endwise to selectively bring the key 27 into cooperative 'relation with the desired gear. 'The hub of each gear is preferably provided with a bushing 31 keyed thereto as at 32, and the socket 29 is formed in the bushing; S acing collars 33 are provided between ad; gears so as' to maintain them regularly spaced and also to operate4 as cams to co.

operate with the inclined or cammed surfaces 34 on the end portions of the outer edge of the s ring pressed key 27 whereby,

`when the shi -bar 25 is moved endwise, the

in a bearing 37 provided upon the inner endl of the gear casing and operated by a hand crank 38, which is provided with a sprinA pressed dog or ratchet 39 cooperating wit a segmental rack 40, whereby thehandle of the gear may be held at predetermined positions. The gear 35 is in-mesh with the rack portion 41 of the shift-bar 25, so-that by rotating the gear 35 the shift-bar ma be moved endwise so as to bring its key 2 into cooperation with any one of the gears 21 to 24 inclusive. It will here be explained that the portion 41 ofo the shift-bar 25 is not screw threaded but is provided with a series of parallel circumferential grooves or 1 flanges cooperating with the teeth of the gear 35 in order that the bar 25 may rotate on its axis within the drivin shaft 18 without being interfered with y the gear 35 while at the ysame time maintain the rack 40 in cooperative relation therewith. In order that each of the gears 21 to 24 may be loose upon the driving shaft 18, the shift-bar 25 may be moved to such a vosition as will bring the middle portion ofp the key 27 into engagement with oneof the spacing collars 33, whereupon the shift bar 25 and the driving shaft 18 will rotate without rotating any of the gears. By reason of this construction and arrangement the rotation of the drums may be stopped without disconnectingv the machine from the source of power.

For the purpose of shifting each wire storage drumI along its shaft so that the wire may feed to or from the table in astraight line, I have ,provided the necessary mechanism whichis best shown in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6. Extending in opposite directions froln the top of the post 6, and in a hori. zontal plane, are duplicate arms 42 and 43 provided at their outer ends with open ended tubularv slideways 44 and 45 through which work bars 46 and 47 respectively. The ends of the bars 46 and 47 adjacent the drum are connected to a cross-head 48 which acent has a sleeve 49 rotatably received within a socket 50 on the adjacent end of .the hub 8 of the drum. Between the gear casing 13 and the arms 42 and 43 there is a cross-head 51 provided at opposite ends with sockets 52 and 53 receiving the bars 46 and 47 respectively. Suitable set screws 54, or other suitable means, are provided for rigidly connecting the bars 46 and 47 t0 the cross-head,

51. At the middle of the cross-head 51 there is a nut 55 receiving an externally screw-threaded sleeve 56 which is rotatably mountedupon the drum shaft 7 and carries a bevelled gear 57 on the rear end of theI screw-threaded sleeve. At this .point it will be noted, by reference to Figure 6, that the drum shaft 7 extends through and has a bearing 58 in the inner wall ofthe gear casing 13. Located between the gear 57 and the gear casing there is a clutch constructed and arranged to selectively drive the screw D56 in opposite directions and from the driving shaft 7. This clutch includes spaced bevelled gears 59 and 60 loosely mounted upon the shaft 7. The gear 59 is held against endwise play along the shaft 7 by being held between the rear end of the screw 56 or the hub of the gear 57 on the one hand,

and the ring or collar 61 embracing the shaft 7 and secured thereto in any suitable manner as by a pin or key 62. The gear Y60 is similarly mounted and is held between the. gear casing 13 `or the end of the bearing 58 thereon, and the ring or collar'63 embracing the shaft and held in place by a pin or key 64. Embracing the shaft'7 and located between the gears 59 and 60v is a shiftable clutch member 65 in the form of a sleeve "suitably keyed to the shaft 7 so as to rotate therewith but free to slide thereon in the direction of the length of the' shaft. The member 65 is secured to the shaft as by keys 65a and 65, held against endwise movement by the` collarsr61 and 63. One end of the sleeve is toothed as at 66 for engagement with the toothed portion 67 of the hub of the gear.59,while the other end of the sleeve is provided with a toothed portion 68 to en- Gage the toothed portion 69 of the hub of t e ear 60, For convenience in shifting the s iftable gear element into and out or' engagement with the gears 59 and 60, there is provided a depending yoke or fork. 70 which straddles the shiftable gear member 65 and ,cooperates with the yoke shoe 71l loosely embracing the shiftable member 65 and preferably received within an annular groove or guideway 72 provided on said member 65. Thelower end of each arm of the yoke or fork 70 isprovided with aslot or bifurcation 73 receiving a stud or prothe screw 56 will be rotated in one'direction from the shaft 7 as a prime mover. By shifting the shiftable clutch member 65 into engagement with the gear 60, the gear 59 will'be loose and the gear 60 will be locked to the shaft and will be rotated thereby. As the gear 60 engages the gear 76 diametrically opposite the gear 59, said gear 76 and also the gears 77 and 57, will be rotated in a direction reverse to that in which they` are rotated by the gear 59, wherefore the screw 56 will be rotated in the opposite direction and driven from (the shaft'7.` It will here be explained that the shiftable clutch member 65 and the toothed portions 67 and 69 of the gears 59 and 60 will have.

such a relation that the shiftable member will engage either of the gears immediately after ithas been disengaged from the other gear so there will be no appreciable loss of time inreversing the rotation of the screw, the urpose of which will be hereinafter descri ed.

By reason of the rotation of the screw 56 in either direction, as ust described, it will be understood. that the nut 55 and its crosshead 51 will be moved towards and away from the gear casing 13, and by reason of the fact that the bars 46 and 47 connect the cross-head 51 with the cross-head 48 associated with the hub of the storage drum, it

will be seen that the drum will likewise, be moved towards and away -from the gear casing 13. A

For automatically actuating the yoke or fork 70 to reverse the rotation of the screw 56, the bar 47 is extended a suitable distance in rear of the cross-head 51 and is provided with trip elements 78 and 79 preferably in the form of sleeves adjustable lengthwise of the bar and secured thereto in any suitable manner as by a set-screw 80 carried by each trip and engaging a longitudinal groove 81 in the bar 47. These trip members are disposed at opposite sides of a crank arm 82 depending from the shaft which also carries the depending yoke or fork 70. so that when either of the trip members 78 and 79 engages the cranlgarm 82, the latter will be swung in the direction of travel of the trip which will of course result in a corresponding movement of the s yoke or fork 7 0 which will in turn affect the shifting of the clutch so as to change the rotation of the screw 56 and thus reverse the transverse travel or feed of the storage drum. Y Inasmuch as the movement of the rod or bar 47, under the infiuence of the screw 56, is of course slow, and inasmuch as it is desired to quickly shift the clutch, there is rovided mechanism for this purpose as est shown 'in Figure 7 wherein it will be seen that the lower end ofY the arm 82 is provided with a depending trip 83 having oppposite downwardly converging sides or shoulders which cooperate with an upwardly directed spring pressed plunger 84 mounted in a socket creasing 85 and provided with u wardly converged walls or shoulders. With the rod or bar 47 travel ing in the direction of the arrow on Figure 7, it will be seen that the trip shoulder 83 will travel alon the spring pressed plunger 84 and gradua ly depress the latter until the'high points of the cams 83 and 84 come into register, and immcdiatel the spring pressed lunger will7 be quickly shot upwardly by t e spring 86 and cooperating with the opposite side of the cam portion 83 will-quickly throw the arm 82 in the direct-ion of the arrow and thereby quickl shift the clutch. It will of course be understoo'd that the slot, eye or openin 87 in the lower end of the arm 82 and through which' the rod 47 asses will be large enough to permit of t 's movement of the-arm on the rod or bar. For con venience in manually operating the crank arm 82, should it be desired to reverse the horizontal travel of the drum before it can be automatically accomplished, a suitable handle 88 is provided upon the arm 82 or the shaft 75, and it is quite apparent that the clutch may bev shiftedby manually ma; nipulating the handle 88 against the yie1d able Yholding efect of the cam plunger 84.

In the operation of themachine to feed Vthe several strands of wire longitudinally across the table 1, one of the storage drums is set in loperation by operating the `gear shift to impart any selected rate' of speed to the drum shaft 7, whereupon the rotation of the-drum, say for instance the'drum l B, in lthe direction of the arrow" on Figure 1 of the drawings, will cause the wire to be drawn from the reel D to the drum B which will result in the rotation of the reel D in the direction of the arrow" andthe rotation of the reel C in the direction of thearrow ap# plied thereto, wherefore it will be understood that the three strands of wire b, a and d, leading from the reel C will pass across the table, in the direction o f the arrow applied thereto and beneath one or more shaving cut- 'ters supported upon the table and in coo ,erative relation with the tops of the stran s of wire as will be hereinafter explained.

thereafter The strand d will pass around the reel D, and thence to the drum B, while the str ands b and c will pass around the reel D, thence back to the reel C and thence across the table. The desired tension uponl the strands of wire so as to keep the same in a straight and taut condition when traveling across the table 1 is maintained by the frictionoccasioned by the\reels C and D and the drum Aand its cooperating arts.

It will here be exp ained that the wire which is passing from the drum A to the reel C is passing thereto at the rear thereof when looking at the front of the machine shown in Figure 1, and therefore the drum A will be at one of its limits and will be bodily moving along its shaft so as to feed t-he wire in 'a straight line from the drum to the reel C. At the opposite end of the table, the wire will be feeding from the front side of the reel D to the drum B, and

the latter will betraveling along its shaft 7 so that the wire strand c .will feed from theA reel D to the drum Bin a straight line. At

the conclusion of unwinding the first lay of coils of wire from the drum A tothe reel C, the travel of the drum A along its shaft will be automatically reversed, as hereinbefore explained, and at the same time the bodily' travel. of the drum B will also be reversed in order that the wire may be fed in straightl lines from the drum A to the reel C, and from the reel D to the drum B.4 This reversing of the bodily travel of the two drums is automatically kept up until substantially all the wire has been fed from the drum A, whereupon the direction of the rotation of the drums is reversed and the wire is then fed from the drum B to the drum A. lt will of course be understood tha'tthe rateof travel of the ,wire may be changed by t-he gear shift hereinbefore described.

In Figure 1 of the drawings I have illustrated a plurality of cutting or shaving devices designated E, F, G and H. Any preferred number of cutting devices may be employed, and as they are duplicates in construction andoperation a detailed descripl tion of one'of them is deemed sufiicient. By reference to Figures 10, 11 and 12,@-it will be seen that each cutterl includes -the substantially horizontal cutter head 89, from v. which rises a shank 90 that is mounted within a rectangular housing v91 within which the shank 90 is vertically adjustable.

Below the cutter. head 89. aren two duplicate 'tool' holders or. cutter holders 92,-each of which is provided with a-liool receiving seat in which is located ,the tool or .cutter 93. The seat portion of the cutter holder 92 is vertically split or bifurcated, as indicated at 94, Y in'Figure 12 of the drawin and there 1s a clamping screw 95, exten ing through the bifurcated portion for. the

purpose of drawing the sides thereof towards onel another so as to `clamp the tool 93 rigidly within the holder. The cutter blade 93 has a bevelled cutting edge 97 similar to that of a chisel or the blade of a plane. Each blade is set at an angle to the vertical and the two blades are disposed in reverse relation with their cutting edges located in the space between the tool holders. A tongue and groove connection is provided between each tool holder and the cutter head 89, and a suitable clamping screw 98 is employed for lsecuring the tool holder to the cutter head.

The construction shown in Figure 11` includes an undercut rib 99 on the cutter head 89 and a corresponding open ended groove justably raised and lowered by manipulation' of the screw so as to adjustthe cutter blades 93 with respect to the work. I

The housing 91 is provided at opposite sides with trunnions 102 extending in the ldirection of feed of the wire and mounted' in suitable bearings 103 projecting outwardly from the upstanding rib 4 on the bed or table 1.

91 and the parts carried thereb are pivotally mounted on the axis exten ing in the direction lof the feed of the wire, whereby the cutter head may be tilted transversel of the strands of wire and onthe axis aford` ed by the trunnions 102, for a purpose as will be hereinafter ex lained. For convenience in adjustably tilting the housing 91 shank 90, whereby the latter may be ad- By this arrangementl the housing and the cutter head,lthere isprovided adl justing mechanism including adjusting screws 104 disposed at opposite' sides of the provided upon the upstanding rib-1. Each adhousing and carried yby brackets 105 socket in the bracket 105 and is provided with an annular groove 106 within which is' received a stud or projection 107 extending outwardly from the adjacent side of the housing 91. 1f desired the stud or rojection may be equipped with an antiriction roller. By rotating the adjusting screws 104, the housing 91 may be adjustably tilted on its trunnions 102 to adjust the angular disposition of the cutting edge of each of the cutters 93 with respect to the strands of justing screw engages a screw-threaded ias wire which are traveling beneath said cutf 4 ting edge, as will be understood by reference to Figures 14,- 15 and 16of the drawing which are dia rammatic and illustrate4 the initial and a justed positions of the cutter edge with respect to the horizontal. In these diagrammatic views, 93 indicates the cutter, 12 the guidewayA for the wire strands, and b, 0 and d the wire strands having the arrangement shown in Figure 13. For the first cutting operation, the cutter 93 is disposed with its lower cutting edge in a horizontal position so as to cut shavings from the strands of wire as they travel from left to right or in other words from the reel C to the reel D. As hereinbefore explained, the strand d passes from the reel C and around the reel D, as best illustrated in Figure 13, and then as at e, said strand portion d leads directly to the drum B. Now the other strands b and o, after having been cut, passaround the reel D and backto the reel C, and thence across the table and become strands c and d, each of which has been cut along the top thereof, and consequently the cutter, if permitted to remain in its original position, would not engage the cut strands c and d, as will be understood by reference to the dotted line in Figure 15, wherefore the cutter 93 is tilted vertically into the position shown in full lines in Figure 15 in order that its cutting edge p may cooperate with the cut strands c and d and the uncut strand b. After the strand d of Figure 15 has been given a second cut, it is of course necessary to effect a further adjustment of the cutter 93 to the position shown in Figure 16, in order that said cutter may cooperate with the strand d which was strand c and has been siibjected to two cutting operations. From this point in the operation of the machine, no further adjustment of the cutting member 93 is necessary, as will be readily understood. When the travel of the wire is reversed, and it is fed from drum B to drum A, it will of course be understood that the opposite set of cutters 93 will be employed, and the tiltable adjustment thereof will be opposite to that indicated in Figures 14, 15 and 16.

By having the cutters 93 of each cutting device disposed reversely, it will be understood that one cutter will be operative in one direction of feed of the wire, while the-other cutter will be operative in the other direction of feed of the wire. The cutter which is not in operation is not removed from the holder 92, but is merely backed off far enough to escape the work.

An important feature of the cutting mechanism 'will be understood by reference to Figure 1l of the drawings wherein it will be seen that the active cutting edge of each cutter is in rear of the vertical'center line of support of the cutter with respect to the direction of travel of the wire beneath the cutter, and therefore an yielding of -the cutter support under the pullm' g action 0f the wire,

will tend to swing the cuttin edge of the cutter to the right and upwar ly on the arc in the general direction of the travel of the wire and consequently away from the wire instead of bein wedged into the wire as wouldl occur if ghe actlve cutting edge were disposed in front of .the vertical central line of support. The foregoin statement will be better. understood by re erence to Figure 17 wherein b designates the wire to be cut and traveling in the direction of the arrow. designates the cutter head shank or central vertical line of support for the cutter 93 which has its cutting edge in coo eration with the wire. X deslgnates the ra ius and Y the arc along which the cutting ed e of the blade would travel under any ten ency of the support to yield in the direction of pull of the wire, wherefore it will be readily understood that the cutting edge of the cutter, under such circumstances, would yield and rise out of engagement with the wirel without causing breakage thereof as would occur if the cutter occupied the position designated 93.

By reference to Figures 1, 2 and 2*, it will be understood that the machine or apparatus isl designed to be driven from an overhead ulley 108 mounted u on a suitable line shaft 109. A driving be t 110 leads from the. driving pulley 108 to one of the pulle s 14 for the driving mechanism of one o the units, and another driving belt 111 extends from the driving pulley 108 to, the pulley 14 of the other unit. Inasmuch as the units are driven vin opposite directions, in order to change the line of feed of wire, one of the driving belts is crossed, as indicated in Figure 2a. In order that the two pulleys 14 may be driven from the one driving pulley 108, the latter is a wide faced pulley so as to accommodate the two belts, and one of the pulleys 14 is disposed a suitable distance outwardly from the adjacent casing 13 in order that its belt 110 may travel in a straight line between the pulleys 108 and 14. It will here be `explained that when the right hand unit is being driven, the driving portion of the left hand unit is disconnected by manipulation of the crank handle 38, see Figure 7 of the drawings, so as to move the bar 25 until the key member 27 underlies one ofthe collars 33 and is thereby held out of engagement with any 'one of the gears 22, 23 and 24, whereby it will be understood that the hollow shaft 18 and the bar 25 may rotate under the action of the pulley wheel 14, whileat the same time the gears 22, 23 and 24 may rotate in the opposite direction without being interfered with. By this arrangement, reversing of the direction of travel of the wire may be accomplished without actually disconnecting either of the units from the ydrivin pulley 108. Of course, both units may disconnected at the same time so that the machine or .apparatus may Yre-` main idle without stopping the operation of the pulley 108. An important feature of the presentinvention resides in the employment of presser and guide rollers at opposite ends of the table and located between the respective reels C and D and the shaving cutters adjacent thereto. These guide and presser rollers are 4 duplicates in construction, and one of them has been shown in detail in Figures' 18, 19 and- 20, wherein 112 designates a wide faced roller mounted to rotate on a suitable shaft 113 extending through a fork or yoke 114 carried at the bottom of a hollow shank 115, the bore of which is internally screw-threaded for the reception of an adjusting screw 116. rl`he shank 115 is vertically adjustable in a bracket 117 suitably secured to the rib or back plate 4 on `the table 1. The body of the bracket has a chamber which is open at the bottom for the introduction of the shank 115 carrying the screw 116. The screw is, provided with an annular fiange 118, which underlies the under side of the top of the bracket 117 through an opening in which the cylindrical head portion 119 of the screw projects, and is providedupon its outer end with a finger piece 12() lmurled or otherwise roughened on its periphery for convenience in manuallyrotating the. screw 116 to raise and lower the shank 115 and thereby adjust the'roller 112` with respect to the top of the table. The shank 115 is guided in its vertical movement and is prevented from rotating within the bracket through" the medium of a suitable key 121'. The purpose of the l combined guide and presser roller is to hold the wire down upon the table and insure its most effective feed to the adjacent shaving cutter at one end of the table and from the shaving cutter at the opposite end of the table. It will, of course, be understood that each feed roller is wide enough to extend across the plurality of strands of wire which are passing across the top of the table.

What I claim is:

1. In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a substantially -horizontal work-table, means for feeding a single length of wire in substantially parallel strands across the table, and a shaving cutter in co-operative relation with the strands of wire passing across the table.

'2. In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a table, means for feeding a strand of wire across the table and including storage drums at opposite ends of and below the table and reels mounted at'opposite ends of the table and above the drums, and a shaving cutter in co-operative relation with a wire strand traveling acrossthe table.

3. In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a table, means for feeding a strand of wire across the table` and in-l the table',

cluding storage drums at opposite ends of and below the table and reels mounted at opposite ends of the table and above the drums', 4a shaving cutter in co-operative .relation with a wire strand traveling across the table, and means for driving one of the storage drums to feed a wire from the other drum to said one drum.

4. In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a table, means for feeding a strand of wireacross the table and including storage. drums at opposite ends of and below the table and reels mounted at opposite ends of the table and above the drums, a shaving cutter in co-operative relation with a wire strand traveling across means for driving one of the storage drums tofeed a wire from the other -drum to said one drum, and means for driving the other drum to reverse the direction of feed of the Wire.

5. In a metal jvool making machine, the combination of atable,means for feeding a Wire across the table and including storage drums at opposite ends of the table and reels mounted at opposite ends of the table and above the drums, means for driving one of the drums` means for bodily moving the drums laterally across the reels,- and a shaving cutter in co-operative relation with a wire strand passing across the table.

6.' In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a table, means for feeding a wire across the table and including storage drums at oppositeends of the table, reels above thedru-ms, means for` rotating one of the drums, means for bodily moving the drums across the reels and for reversing the direction of body travel ofthe drums, and a shaving cutter in co-operative relation with a wire traveling across thetable.

7.- In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a table, means for feeding a wire across the table and including storage drums at opposite ends of the table, means for driving one of thedrums in one direction, means for driving' the other drum in the opposite direction, whereby the direction of feed of the wire may be reversed, reels mounted at opposite ends of the table and above the drums, means for bodily moving the drums'across the faces of the reels and 'for automatically reversing the bodily travel of the drums, and a shaving cutterin co-operative relation with a wire passing across the table.

8. In a metal wool making machine, the combination with a Vtable and a shaving cutter, of means for feeding ay wire across the table in co-operative relation with the cutter and including storage drums at oppositerends of the table, means for driving each drum, each of said means includinga shaft for rotating the drum, a screw threaded sleeve rotatable .upon the shaft, a nut mounted to travel upon the screw threaded sleeve and connected with the drum to move the latter along the shaft, and means for automatically reversing the direction of rotation of the screw threaded sleeve to reverse the direction of the bodily travel of the drum `on the/shaft.

9. In a metal wool making machine, the combination with a table and a shaving cutter, of means for feeding a wire across the table in co-operative relation with the cutter. and including storage drums at opposite ends of the table, means for driving each drum, .each of said means including a shaft for rotating the drum, a screw threaded sleeve rotatable upon the shaft, a nut mounted to travel upon the screw threaded sleeve and connected with the drum to move the latter along the shaft, and means for automatically reversing the direction .of rotation of the Screw threaded sleeve including a reversing clutch driven by the shaft to reverse the direction of the bodily travel of the` drum on the shaft.

10. In a metal Wool making machine, the combination of opposite wire storage drums, a shaving cutter mounted to operate upon the wire feeding between the drums, each drum having a drum shaft on which it is mounted to slide, a driving shaft for each drum shaft, clutch mechanism between each driving shaft and its co-acting drum shaft relation with the several strands of wire and Y mounted for tiltable adjustment to accommodate the cutting edge of the cutter to the cut and uncut strands of wire.

12. In a metal wool making machine, the combination with means for feeding a single length of wire in substantial. arallel strands and for reversing the direction of travel of the strands, ofl a shaving cutter mounted for tiltable adjustment in opposite directions to accommodate its cutting edge to cut and uncut strands of wire.

13. In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a work table, means for feeding a singlelength of wire in substantially parallel strands across the table with all of the strands traveling in the same direction, of a shaving cutter having its cutting edge extending transversely across the several strands, and means for adjustably tilting the cutting edge of the cutter to accommodate the cutter to out and uncut strands.

14. In a metal wool making machine, the combination of a table, means for feeding a single length of wire in substantially parallel strands acrossthe table with all of the strands traveling in the same direction, means for simultaneously changing the direction of travel of all of the strands, a shaving cutter in cooperative relation with the several strands, and means for tiltably adjusting the cutting edge of the cutter in opposite directions to accommodate the cutter to cut and uncut portions of the wire strands and also to the direction of travel of said strands.

15. In a device of the class described, a support for the passage of wire, means for sustaining a supply of wires and for drawing a plurality of them in one direction over the support, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the supprt and tensioning means on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to enga e said plurality of wires placed side by si e and passing in `engagement with the tool to sufiiciently tension said wires passing the tool so thatk the single tool may simultaneously cut from each wire a steel wool shaving.

16. In a device of the class described, a support for the passage of wire, means for sustaining a supply of wiresand for drawing a plurality of them in one direction over the support, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the support and tension creating rollers on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted to engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and passing in engagement with the tool to suiliciently tension said wires passing the tool so that the single tool may simultaneously cut from Aeach wire a steel wool shaving.'

17. In a device of the class described, a support for the passage of wire, means for sustaining a plurality of wires, means for drawing said wires in one direction over the support, a cutting tool adjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over the support, tensioning means on the side of the cutting tool from which the wires are delivered adapted toA engage said plurality of wires placed side by side and passing. .in engagement with the tool to sufficiently tension said wires passing the tool so that the' single tool may simultaneously cut from each wire a steel wool shaving, and automatic means reciprocating the wire sustaining device across the path of travel ofthe wires whereby the drawing means always delivers the wires parallel to each other to the tensioning means.

V18. In a device of the class described, e

support for the passage ofwire, areel for sustaining a plurality of wires,means for drawing said wires in one direction over the support, a cutting toolfadjacent to the support engaging the wires traveling over thesupport, tensioning means o n the side of the cutting toolfrom which the Wiresv are delivered adapted 'to engage said plurality ofwires placed side by side and passlng in 10 engagement with the tool to suliciently ing reel across the tension said wires passing the tool so that thesngle tool may simultaneously cut vfrom each -wire a steel wool shaving, and auto-v matie means reciprocating the wire sustainpath of travel ofthe wires whereby delivers the wires parallel to eachother to the tensioning means.

RUDOLPH I. soi-Iomfrzna us the drawing means always 

